Mommy Monday: Tantrums

As I post about the exciting activities in our lives, I rarely take the time to talk about the struggles. For this reason, I wanted to share a glimpse into our three week rough patch. I know all moms experience the moment of defeat and therefore I hope you can relate and know we will all survive the hard days.

Giada went through a phase of being extremely fussy and only wanted me to hold her. She would try to communicate, but lacks the ability to actually share what she wants and we found ourselves frustrated each day. In addition, she had a slight case of the stomach bug, which enhanced the fussiness. She would wake up in the morning crying and the same thing would happen when she woke up from naps. Besides all this, she is 20 months old and finding her personality. On top of all that, she refused to eat and would only drink milk, which did not help with her attitude. Multiple times a day she would have extreme meltdowns and scream to the point of choking herself. I found myself almost in tears because I was exhausted and just as frustrated with the situation. In the midst of all this chaos, Jocko was not sleeping through the night and I was sleep deprived. (Thank goodness he is now sleeping from 10:30 - 7:00) I would count down the hours until Anthony came home from work to help.  I am lucky that I was able to hand Giada over to Anthony the second he walked in the door and take a moment for myself. The struggle of being at home with a newborn and 19 month old felt like a never ending battle.

As we made it through the LONG three weeks, Giada now feels better and her bubbly personality is back. However, the tantrums still come and go.

Some days the feeling of defeat is hard to overcome, but we move on and do our best the following day. I am still waiting for the baby/toddler manuel, but until then I will give it my all. Thank goodness for reality tv, girlfriends, wine and bedtime at 8:00.

With all the tears, screams, hitting and unanswered tantrums, being her mom is the best job in the world. I look forward to all the years to come and understand the "hard days" and disagreements have only begun. 

My Babywise Babies

The gift of sleep... Isn't that what every mom wants???

As I prepared to have Giada, I knew there was so much to learn. Thankfully, friends and family filled me in on the good, bad and ugly. Along with the good came the book Babywise. Not only does this book give moms the gift of sleep, it supports scheduling your baby. For anyone who knows me, I like to plan, have routine and know what to expect. On the other hand, Anthony is the complete opposite. Therefore, he was not a supporter. However, when he saw the results and how happy his daughter was, he changed his mind. Now, he would not have done it any other way.

Immediately after learning about Babywise, I headed to the book store and purchased the book. I began reading, highlighting pages and taking in all the information it provided. Once Giada arrived, I stated the schedule and fell in love. To this day, she is my scheduled child, slept through the night at 7 weeks, still loves naps and sleeps from 8-7. Coincidence, I think not.

With that being said, now comes Jocko. There wasn't a question as to if I was going to schedule Jocko. In the beginning, he was not as cooperative as his sister, so I had my doubts. However, I stuck with the plan and Jocko is now sleeping through the night. We have had three nights of full sleep!! In addition, I know when he eats, which gives me the freedom to run errands and leave him at home.

Babywise is not for everyone, but I would not do it any other way!

Wooden Headboard

Jocko is 6 weeks old and I am finally working in his room! The combination of our remodel, move and having Jocko fall so close together left his room unfinished. With that being said, I had several ideas in decorating his room, it was just a matter of time.

Before he was born I found a picture online of a wooden headboard for his crib. Conveniently, I had a distressed wooden mirror frame that I made for the last house. Simply, I took the frame apart and cut it into pieces. After rearranging the "puzzle" several times, I finally had the configuration for the headboard

Next, I started with the bottom row of wood and nailed the pieces on the wall. This step took some measuring to make sure it was centered and level. After mounting all the pieces to the wall, I began to add some character to the wood. The two deer horns are from Anthony and my dads first deer. I added a "J" for Jocko and two other decor pieces. 

Once again I saved a fortune on this project and spent a total of $4.

My Inspiration 

                             

My Headboard

Headboard with the Crib

Office/Guest Bedroom Desk

As the kitchen continues to receive updates, I am currently moving onto our office/guest bedroom. I have a specific vision for the room and look forward to bringing it to life!

To begin, I continuously see desk made with galvanized pipe that I love! The look is enough rustic/farmhouse/simple that I wanted to create my own for the office. After looking in the garage at leftover wood, I noticed we had an extra door not being used. The door was the perfect length to use for the top of the desk. Next, I began researching dimensions online. In coming across several tutorials, I decided to use a post from the blog www.designertrapped.com for guidance. Since I was using an old door and not slabs of wood (like the tutorial) there were a few adjustments to make. 

Next, it was off to Home Depot for piping. As I walked in the store with Giada and Jocko in the cart, I was dreading how long it may take to pick out the pipe. Luckily, the gentleman who helped me was beyond helpful and made our experience much better than I could have imagined.

Now, I was off to stain the door. I gave both sides of the doer a quick sand before any stain was applied. I used a combo of two stains on the top of the desk to get the look I wanted. After it dried, I took 00 steel wool and sanded the door. To finish it off, I took some grey paint (the same color as our walls) and applied it to the top of the stain for a white washed look. For the sides and bottom of the desk, I painted it white and sanded the sides for a distressed look once the paint dried. 

The final step was to assemble the galvanized pipe - pretty self explanatory. 

Once the pipe was assembled, I screwed the floor flanges to the bottom of the door. 

All in all, I am happy with the result and look forward to the completion of our office/guest bedroom.

Here are the dimensions of galvanized pipe which included the threading. Home Depot cuts and threads the pipe for you.

Pipe Cut List

4  - 8 inches

4 - 11 inches

4 - 14 inches

1 - 45 inches

6 - t-joints

4 - floor flanges

(Picture from www.designertrapped.com)

The overall cost for this project was under $80 which is great because all the desk I found online ranged from $500 - $1000. 

My inspiration

My desk

Now I am I search for the perfect desk chair and decor/organization on the desk. 

Jocko 1 Month Old

Jocko turned 1 month today and we had a great checkup at the doctors office. He weighs 8 lbs 1 oz and 19 3/4 inches long. Jocko moved from the 2 percentile to the 10th percentile. He eats every three house with a couple cluster feedings in evening. We are currently feeding at 3 AM and then again at 6:30/7. He has a melo temper and puts up with his sister poking and grabbing at him all day long. Giada plays mother hen, but absolutely adores her brother. 

We are so in love and look forward to all the memories yet to come!